Was playing in a clay mine today and it had a few puddles of >4" water/mud. I like to run threw these and splash the water but am getting even more cautious and scared that it will go right into the intake. I read that this is a random and unusual happening in such low water (I've seen the YouTube videos).

Is there anything you can do to the intake to not allow stray water splashing in?

I have a good suggestion, never speed through puddles. Aside from the splashing that might come into your intake, you never know what's hiding in the puddle or how deep it really is. Crawling through the puddle is safest bet to avoid the majority of the problems.

I have a good suggestion, never speed through puddles. Aside from the splashing that might come into your intake, you never know what's hiding in the puddle or how deep it really is. Crawling through the puddle is safest bet to avoid the majority of the problems.

Oh trust me.. I know about all about fording water since my ordeal lol. But, it's sort of mud with 2-3 inches of water on top, but id like to try to tear it up BUT water will still splash up so I guess it's a no go

I remember Indy Car driver Rick Mears had a motto that he learned from his off-road racing days.

"You can't win if you don't finish." He saw so many drivers destroying their vehicles. Sure, off road racers are built tougher than our Jeeps but they break too. All machinery will break if mistreated.

If someone wants to drive a vehicle to bash through everything they see then join the Army and drive a tank. If you want to drive your Jeep in a certain way that will push it to its limits like many do (such as hard core rock crawlers) then protect it the best you can and accept that you are going to be doing lots of repairs on it every weekend like they do.

If you like to bust mud and water, spend some money to make the Jeep more capable in that area and go have a nut. Just realize if you like to get real wet and real dirty something will eventually fail. For some people it is part of the fun and gives them and excuse to spend more time with their Jeep as the fix it.

Rock on!

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I drive a JKUR. Everywhere I look I see places I want to drive up, over, or through.

The stock intake is designed so that the inlet is facing up and out of danger so splashing through a couple of inches of water is no problem. Think about driving down a road in the rain and hitting a small puddle at 35, same thing.

The stock intake is designed so that the inlet is facing up and out of danger so splashing through a couple of inches of water is no problem. Think about driving down a road in the rain and hitting a small puddle at 35, same thing.

The stock intake is designed so that the inlet is facing up and out of danger so splashing through a couple of inches of water is no problem. Think about driving down a road in the rain and hitting a small puddle at 35, same thing.

This is untrue. It's not the same thing I've bombed some puddles on roads and off road. I've opened up the airbox and it gets wet inside. Ive had water in my airbox so thats 1 step before locking it up. You can hydrolock on the street and you can hydrolock on trails. The biggest difference is there are only puddles over 6" deep on roads with poor runoff design or flooded roads.

This is untrue. It's not the same thing I've bombed some puddles on roads and off road. I've opened up the airbox and it gets wet inside. Ive had water in my airbox so thats 1 step before locking it up. You can hydrolock on the street and you can hydrolock on trails. The biggest difference is there are only puddles over 6" deep on roads with poor runoff design or flooded roads.

Like I said, same thing. I am from Seattle and all of the roads are poorly designed and have runoff problems. Even then I never had any problems even with a supercharged cobalt with an open cold air intake that was located in the lower fender.

Now I agree that you can get into big trouble off road with deep water holes that look like little ones but the op was talking about 2-3 inches. Even if you get some splash in the airbox its ok a little water sucked in ok when it's a little. You risk hydrolock when you stuck a lot of water at once and liquid water will not compress in the cylinder. The other question is there anything other than a snorkel that will help. Op I believe your safest bet is to get a snorkel if you want to be on the safe side.

OP, did you decide on something? I have this same issue/question. It didn't seem like you got any great answers. I don't want a full snorkel either. Seems like there has to be a good way to keep it from happening in your engine compartment. There is this http://www.riverraider.com/store/JK-Expedition-Snorkel
But still too unsightly for me.

The River Raider is pretty inconspicuous if you get it painted to match the jeep.

The stock airbox has 3 drains in the bottom of it that are essentially open to drain (or fill). I dont think it would take much splashing at all to get water in the airbox. You can silicone up the airbox so that it cant fill through those drains, but just keep in mind it also wont be able to drain in the event you get water in the intake. I like having the river raider right in plain sight so I can see for sure how close to taking on water it is. It takes the guess work out of it.

Also dont forget to address your breathers (both diffs, transfer case, and trans) and electronics. The fusebox is prety exposed. Lastly as others have mentioned, be prepared to replace things like fans, bearings, alternators, etc more regularly than normal.

Like I said, same thing. I am from Seattle and all of the roads are poorly designed and have runoff problems. Even then I never had any problems even with a supercharged cobalt with an open cold air intake that was located in the lower fender.

Now I agree that you can get into big trouble off road with deep water holes that look like little ones but the op was talking about 2-3 inches. Even if you get some splash in the airbox its ok a little water sucked in ok when it's a little. You risk hydrolock when you stuck a lot of water at once and liquid water will not compress in the cylinder. The other question is there anything other than a snorkel that will help. Op I believe your safest bet is to get a snorkel if you want to be on the safe side.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reddog1

Rugged Ridge has a snorkel that doesn't look to intrusive. It has a high and low mount. The install looks easy and a major PLUS no cutting. It wont be my next purchase, but I can see it in my future.

That rugged ridge one looks awesome! I did see some issues with some build. I can't find the link at present. He had some problems that RR helped out with. He did say he would do it again though, if I remember correctly. It's more involved but you can go back to stock as you won't see the one cut you do have to make on the fender flange.